505-A River Runs Thru It

Tsaina River Gorge, about 37 miles NE of Valdez, Alaska. A rain storm had just passed over and the emerging sun was very bright which makes for great colors and details in the rocks but also makes it impossible to capture with just one exposure. Fortunately, there was no wind so I was able to set up the tripod on the cliff edge and shoot 5 exposures for a blend (just a blend, not a tone mapped HDR).

There is a very narrow band of time where the gray glacial silt that makes the river muddy in the summer is still present but in very light concentrations which results in a very blue color, especially when the sky is blue. A few days before, the water is gray, a few days later it is clear.